


Flowers of the Night

by SonyB89



Series: Characters of Pedro Pascal [5]
Category: The Great Wall (2017)
Genre: F/M, Pedro Pascal Characters, Pero Tovar - Freeform, Pero Tovar deserves Love, Romantic Fluff, grumpy spaniard, pedro pascal fandom - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 07:54:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29275023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SonyB89/pseuds/SonyB89
Summary: Pero accompanies a young woman into the forest in search for medical herbs
Relationships: Pero Tovar x Original Female Character
Series: Characters of Pedro Pascal [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2121489
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	Flowers of the Night

* * *

After the excitement and adventures of traveling to China, both Pero and William were not opposed to selling their swords to people who had “boring” jobs for them.

Sure, there was less pay, but they didn’t mind. It was a nice change of pace to protect people and cargo from wolves, bears and robbers for once instead of fighting monsters.

For that reason, they found themselves part of a company that helped a young noblewoman and her husband of six months to move to their new estate, all across northern Europe, chasing the spring and watching the snow slowly melting away.

They were riding alongside them and the ladies household and her cargo to deliver the couple to the ocean in the north to a distant port, where they would board a ship to cross the English channel.

Two weeks into their journey, as they sat with the other mercenaries and soldiers at the campfire, their master came to tell them that his wife had just confessed to being with child and that he was to be a father.

Congratulations were uttered and the wine that he offered for celebration gladly accepted.   
He left them alone to see to his wife again, with a satisfied smile on his lips.

Just before the first watch was about to start, the men heard someone clearing their throat.   
Turning around, Pero saw one of the women he knew to be part of the noblewomans entourage.

She was dressed in a simple dress in green colours and a beige apron, a leather satchel slung across her shoulders.   
He had never heard her speak before and knew her to be a quiet woman, but ever since he had seen the army of women in China, he knew to never judge a book by it’s cover.

“May I help you, Miss?”, William asked, noticing that the woman was trying to ask for something.

“I-I..”, she said, straightening her shoulders, grabbing the strap of her satchel tighter.

“Don’t be shy, sweetheart”, one of the soldiers slurred, mistaking the blush on the womans face for something that seemed to fit his drunken fantasies.   
“Are you here for some company? If you seek to ease an itch between your legs, I am more than eager to…”

The soldier fell backwards onto his back with an undignified squeal, as a knife buried itself into the log he was sitting on just inches away from his private parts.

“Watch your tongue, _cabrón_. Did your mother never teach you how to talk to a lady?”, Pero sneered.

The woman had taken two steps back, but she gave him a shy smile as a reward for his actions.

“My mistress will have to deal with sickness in the mornings soon”, she finally uttered. “I wish to gather some herbs in the woods, but they have to be picked at night.”

“You require an escort?”, William asked.

She nodded.

“I do. I don’t know these woods and I should not wander them alone at night. Especially with individuals like him on the loose.”

The young woman shot daggers with her eyes at the fallen soldier, but the quiver in her voice suggested that she was genuinely nervous.

“Unfortunately, the duty of the first watch is mine, but I’m sure my friend Tovar will gladly accompany you”, William volunteered, winking at the Spaniard, who rolled his eyes.   
He was tired and his full belly was making him sleepy.

But who was he to deny the wish of a woman who looked like a frightened bird and who was doing her duty, just as he did?

He just grunted and stood up, stretching, letting his joints pop. Pero was fascinated about how tiny and frail this woman looked – but most people seemed small compared to him.

“Thank you”, she said and bent down to pick up the lantern at her feet, but Pero was quicker.

“Lead the way, _señorita_.”

* * *

Her name was Gabriella and it didn’t take long for Pero to seek out her sweet smile and catch her shy glimpses in his direction.

Once every four days she asked him to accompany her into the woods to gather herbs for cooking and for medicine and as spring finally took hold over the country, the bounty grew.

His fellow soldiers at first tried to mock him and later made suggestions behind his back, which he tried to ignore. It was not that he didn’t think of her as attractive – because she was.   
But every single time he touched her, he feared she would crumble under his fingers.

Besides, he would never dishonour a maid.

But three weeks on, on one of their hikes through the dark forest, his restraint and honour was tested.

As he helped her step over a fallen tree, taking her hand so she would not stumble, she said: “My mistress asked me today if we were engaged in carnal relations.”

“Wha-“, he gulped, instantly letting go of her hand and stepping away from her. “You and… _and me_?”

Gabriella giggled.

“Yes. I told her about you. And she is thinks that I am smitten with you.”

Pero had no idea how to react to that.

Gabriella spotted some wild mint near a boulder and sank onto the forest floor, pulling out her dagger to harvest it.

“I told her that I think you are a very nice man. Grumpy, but humorous. Strong, but very gentle.”

Pero coughed, rubbing his neck. He was glad that her back was to him.

“ _Gentle_ is not a word that people normally use to describe me.”

“Oh, but you are”, she insisted, picking some hidden, fresh blooming forget-me-nots.

“I see it in the way you walk. Soldiers usually don’t care where they put their steps, but you do. I have never seen you trample on a single flower.”

She turned around again, tied the flowers she had picked with a piece of string, fetched a pin from her strawberry blonde hair and pinned the flowers to his lapel.

“There”, she said, smiling. “Now you look a bit less grumpy.”

Before she could pull her hand away, he grabbed her wrist. His voice was husky now, the only light to be seen was the flame of the lantern.

“Are you not afraid of me? Of what I could do to you?”, he asked, stepping closer to her.

She only smiled, the shyness and nervousness from weeks prior forgotten in his presence.

“Of all the things in this dark forest, you are the only thing I am not afraid of.”

“Are you sure about that?”, he asked, putting the lantern on the floor and then, teasingly, kissing the inside of her wrist, feeling her pulse quicken under his lips.

“Quite. Even now you choose to be tender and gentle, when all I want is for you to kiss me.”

If she was surprised by the feral growl that escaped his list, she didn’t let it show.

Pressing Gabriella against a nearby tree, he pressed his lips against hers, intoxicated by her sweet scent and chasing the feeling of her softness against his hard muscles.

She responded in kind, standing on her tiptoes, placing her hands on his cheeks, gracing his stubble and urging him closer.

He would have continued to kiss her, explore her mouth and nibble at her lips, had she not let out a tiny pained noise that made him retreat.

“Forgive me…”, he said. “Did I overstep?”

She shook her head.

“Not at all. It’s just… tree branch.”

Pero shifted his gaze and saw that a piece of twig dared puncture the lovely womans waist.

Sighing, Gabriella leaned forwards, placing her hands on his chest and listened to Peros heartbeat.

“My mistress was right”, she mumbled.

“About?”

“I am… Smitten, that is.”

He chuckled, sending vibrations trough his body that made Gabriella smile.

“You are the woman with medical expertise. Is there a remedy for such a condition?”, he asked.

She looked up, her face illuminated by the tiny flame to their feet, her eyes sparkling, her smile disarming.

“Kissing only seems to make it worse. But I find that I don’t mind.”

And who was Pero to deny this request? After all, she had infected him with the same illness.

* * *


End file.
